WHAT IS THIS PROJECT?

Ever since I was a little kid, I've had pretty disruptive sleep patterns. I'd kick my sister out of bed unconsciously, scream sudden nonsense phrases, and sleepwalk to the living room to complete nonsensical tasks while my parents watched in horror.

I've always been pretty good at remembering my dreams, too, and being woken up by vivid and violent nightmares has been a common occurance my whole life.

This behavior kicked up a gear when I got to college and my sleep schedule got completely wrecked. It wasn't uncommon for me to stay up for 4 days in a row, then wake up in the shower fully clothed, or have entire conversations during an hours-long sleepwalking blackout I didn't remember.

One blackout lasted so long I got through multiple classes, and my boyfriend didn't realize I was sleepwalking until I began panicking about "keyframing parts of myself in the past" and "not being able to get them back". This is your brain on after effects.

SOOO WHAT'S THE POINT?

It took me a while to even realize I was having sleep paralysis incidents, because they don't manifest as what a lot of people discuss online. I'm not haunted by a demon, and rarely if ever have visual hallucinations. My sleep paralysis incidents usually manifest in one of two ways:

• Auditory hallucinations accompanied by paralysis
• The inability to wake up from a dream when I am aware I am dreaming

I wanted to document my experiences since they aren't really the norm. Maybe it will help someone realize what's happening to them!

Also, keeping an active dream diary as a kid is how I taught myself to lucid dream, so I'm kinda hoping this will help me gain some control over the phenomenon? And tracking my mental state/health around when these incidents occur will hopefully give me clarity on how to avoid them.

But also idk I just think dream stuff is coooooooool and spooky :3